CRJU 591C Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Triune Brain, Neocortex, Limbic System
5 Jul 2018
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Biology and Genes – Part 2
Lecture Outline
Warrior Gene: Monks aren't aggressive but it is present
Gene used in court
3 Biological Approaches:
1. Genetic
2. Evolutionary
3. Neuroscience
Natural Selection
- Only the “fittest” survive
- Certain traits give the people who possess them an “edge”
- This “edge” is passed to future generations
Evolutionary Approach
One view:
- Criminal Behavior is normal (Emile Durkheim) Strain Theory, Anime Theory, Social
Bond Theory, etc.
- If it is normal, criminal behavior must have been evolutionarily advantageous
- Many traits selected for their adaptive value in the past may not be adaptive today.
Second view:
-Reproductive Success
- Parenting effort (effort put into raising offspring). Often associated with empathy,
altruism, nurturance.
find more resources at oneclass.com
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- Mating effort (effort taken to acquire sexual partners) Aggressiveness,
dominance, etc.
- Female reproductive success depends more on parenting effort, so females have
evolved strength on traits that facilitate it
o These traits make them more prone to non-criminal behavior
Neuroscience
- Neocortex: rational
These two make us different from one another
- Limbic system: emotional
- Reptilian complex: primitive part of brain
Neurons – Communication Process
Connections made based on stimuli received. When something stimulates us we form these
connections to understand what it is and how to respond. Idea of both environment and genes.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Warrior gene: monks aren"t aggressive but it is present. Certain traits give the people who possess them an edge . This edge is passed to future generations. Criminal behavior is normal (emile durkheim) strain theory, anime theory, social. If it is normal, criminal behavior must have been evolutionarily advantageous. Many traits selected for their adaptive value in the past may not be adaptive today. Parenting effort (effort put into raising offspring). Mating effort (effort taken to acquire sexual partners) aggressiveness, dominance, etc. Female reproductive success depends more on parenting effort, so females have evolved strength on traits that facilitate it: these traits make them more prone to non-criminal behavior. These two make us different from one another. When something stimulates us we form these connections to understand what it is and how to respond. Experience in adults alters the organized brain, but in infants and children, it organizes the developing brain (perry & pollard, 1998, p. 36)
